Councilmember Pete Furman in the News

“I’m a fan of efficiency, but I don’t think I’m a fan of loosening the limits that much,” Councilman Pete Furman commented, and asked why staff had suggested a $300,000 limit on the contract value when the city manager’s discretionary spending authority is capped at $100,000.

Continue Reading Council approves service agreements with out-of-area firms4 

“I was looking forward to hearing the chief’s voice beamed down to me every Saturday morning at noon,but I’ll live with that disappointment,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading City to add FEMA-funded sirens in Uptown

“Are collisions and injuries and fatalities increasing?” Councilman Pete Furman asked.

Continue Reading Council considers staff requests to hire more staff

“This project really ranks high for me,” Furman said. “Maybe it’s later than it should have been, but we’re getting there.” He added that exposing the community to changes in their mobility patterns is “absolutely the right decision.”

Continue Reading Council approves Andante path, improvements

“I think I’m begging for two more weeks to see if we can get some outside independent advice of looking at this deal,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading Divided council approves new lease for Villas on Shelby

Councilman Pete Furman … suggested that the city could have achieved “a much finer tuned solution” without an LDC change by modifying the noise and lighting ordinance.”

Continue Reading City Council blocks private sport courts

“We’re not trying to compete in the marketplace. We’re trying to find that trip level,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading Council raises workforce rent cap by 13.6%

“Regional solutions are the right approach,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “We need to be good partners in the Verde Valley on this issue.”

Continue Reading Council returns ADOH homelessness grant

The Sedona City Council approved the annexation ordinance in a 6-1 vote, with Councilman Pete Furman opposed, on March 25.

Continue Reading Sedona City Council votes 6-1 to annex 3,422 acre

Councilman Pete Furman said he was “uncomfortable” with the Visitor Center giving business or restaurant recommendations instead of encouraging visitors to stay longer or directing them, but would support the contract renewal as well as the kiosks.

Continue Reading Council plans three Uptown kiosks, removal of trail information

“No other decisions have been made on this project except perhaps the number of units,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “With that understanding, I am supporting the project.”

Continue Reading City supports staff bid for federal housing grant

“I hear a lot of fear from my council colleagues about development if we didn’t buy it,” Furman said. “I would ask my council colleagues for some time for our staff to really think about it instead of just reacting in fear.”

Continue Reading City votes to buy possible creekwalk parcel from ADOT

“I too like the old barn aroma,” Furman said. “I think I favor the wait-and-see approach as well.”

Continue Reading Ranger barn to retain historical character for now

In response to a ques tion from Furman, Blum said that such a “nexus to Sedona” could include employment, a previous address, school enrollment, family members who were residents or membership in a local church, within the last 90 days.

Continue Reading City council moves ahead with homelessness grant

Councilman Pete Furman asked if commercial uses on the ground floor of any buildings would be allowed if the property were developed as a LIHTC project.

Continue Reading City to buy West Sedona lot, sell 401 Jordan

Councilman Pete Furman continued to protest the annexation proposal. “This to me looks like a rushed — what I will call a major change in public policy in Sedona,”

Continue Reading Annexation process moves ahead with 6-1 vote

The council then split as Fultz proposed implementation of the full fees, seconded by Dunn. The motion was approved 4-3, with Fultz, Dunn, Jablow and Councilman Pete Furman in favor, and Kinsella, Pfaff and Ploog in opposition.

Continue Reading Council rejects phased fees for single large increase

“It’s really tremendously exciting to see that,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “We really are going to have think through the management of people … maybe there’s a transit element of access.”

Continue Reading Creekwalk revived at council planning retreat

The council voted 5-2 to approve the settlement agreement, with Fultz and Dunn opposed.

Continue Reading Council settles with RD Olson to end Heritage Lodge suit

“We did a pretty good job talking about ‘the what’ and ‘the ‘how’ but not ‘the why,’” Furman said. “You leave me scratching my head about what ‘the why’ is, what the problem is we’re working to solve.”

Continue Reading Council votes 6-1 to proceed with annexation

PUBLISHERS NOTE: This story was updated at 8:40AM on 12/8/24 to remove an inaccurate and out of context quote by Sedona Councilman Pete Furman regarding affordable and workforce housing. This was a Sedona Red Rock News editorial error. We apologize to councilman Furman for any issues this error may have caused.

Continue Reading Council looks at options to move visible homeless elsewhere

Furman said that he was leaning toward Pfaff’s proposal of “stroking a check on projects that we want … rather than mess with the math here.”

“That’s kind of the simplest way to get where we want to go,” Furman said.

Continue Reading Sedona’s new fees expected to lead the state

The request for a permanent flagpole was initially made by Councilman Pete Furman, who was absent, and was presented to council by Jack Ross, president of the Sedona Area Veteran and Community Outreach nonprofit.

Continue Reading Sedona City Council holds up Posse Grounds flagpole to check size and height

Furman called for a focus on “percussive noise sports” and termed pickleball “particularly disturbing,”

Continue Reading City moves to swat private sport courts

Councilman Pete Furman adroitly remarked, “When you look at this stuff, it sure looks like we’re trying to prevent housing.”

Continue Reading Sedona’s outrageously high pay-to-play development fees dooms workers, modest housing and workforce housing

We commend the Sedona City Council for its unanimous decision to refrain from taking over the Sedona Airport.

Continue Reading Sedona City Council wise to not pursue Sedona Airport takeover

We commend the four members of the Sedona City Council — Councilwomen Melissa Dunn and Jessica Williamson and Councilmen Brian Fultz and Pete Furman — who voted in the majority on Tuesday, Sept. 24, to approve the Saddlerock Crossing development at Soldier Pass and State Route 89A.

Continue Reading Applaud four Sedona City Council members who OK’d Saddlerock Crossing and 46 workforce housing units

“When you look at this stuff, it sure looks like we’re trying to prevent housing,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading Sedona’s housing fees top regional charts

“I’m asking myself, what is the problem that we’re trying to solve, and I don’t see what it is,” Furman said. “I’m not sure why we would ever consider this as an option.”

Continue Reading Potential airport takeover stalls on takeoff

Councilman Pete Furman said a hotel would be preferable to more STRs and called the idea of requiring developments to provide housing for all employees “dangerous, ill-conceived.”

Continue Reading Saddlerock Crossing gets zone change in 4-3 vote

Councilman Pete Furman asked whether the city’s noise ordinance could be used as an excuse to ticket OHVs for engine noise, which Christianson responded would be preempted by state statute.

Continue Reading Council to move ahead with 15 mph OHV speed limit

Agendized as a consent item, the change order was pulled for a discussion by Councilman Pete Furman.

Continue Reading Schnebly roundabout underpass cost rises another $201K

“Is this going to be one big project? Is it going to be phased? Is it going to be parceled out in sort of multiple littler projects?” Councilman Pete Furman asked.

Continue Reading Council chooses Phoenix firm for new Cultural Park master plan

I do think I have a high standard for overturning a P&Z recommendation … and I don’t think that burden was met tonight,” Councilman Pete Furman said. He suggested adding requirements to incorporate wildlife corridors and endangered species protections in future Land Development Code revisions.

Continue Reading 4-3 Sedona City Council overturns unanimous P&Z approval of Oak Creek Heritage Lodge

“Ditto,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading City Council unanimously supports Oak Creek crossings to relieve traffic congestion

“I prefer that the emergency clause be removed from this action,” Furman said. “Governments move slow for good and frustrating reasons … It also subverts the public process. We need to be very conscious of that. I don’t think that a two-week delay in interest rate risk has made the case for me that we should revert to an emergency clause … there’s a difference between can and should.”

Continue Reading City authorizes up to $18M in garage bonds

Furman was opposed to any out-of-area marketing.

Continue Reading Council votes $150,000 for summer marketing

“We’re all shocked — stressed — about the price of the garage,” Councilman Pete Furman said.

Continue Reading Council approves $17.5M contract for $26M garage

“I share some of the concern that maybe this isn’t the highest and best use of the property, but the owners have some rights, and we have to respect them,” Councilman Pete Furman said before asking whether it would require different work to install utilities for single-family versus multi-family development.

Continue Reading Council approves Bowers subdivision plat

“I am absolutely convinced that the Visitor Center is well run,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “But here’s the thing that keeps tripping me up. We all recognize that 5% of our visitors are coming there. But you look at the visitor intercept data that we studied from our tourism bureau, 15% of the people that are here usually or always look for one. We’re getting a third of them into our Visitor Center. Something is not right. Something isn’t working … that speaks to me that our approach isn’t right … the future of the Visitor Center looks radically different.”

Continue Reading City to fund 80% of visitor center for one more year

“I was hoping to hear a little more enthusiasm from the Forest Service,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “The heavy-handed approach is just necessary.”

Continue Reading City council proposes local DMV to control OHVs

 Steve Williamson welcomes three members of the Sedona City Council: Pete Furman, Melissa Dunn, and Brian Fultz to discuss some of the more controversial issues facing the city.

Continue Reading Councilmembers Interview – Podcast April 14, 2024

Helping people who are experiencing vehicular homelessness is a worthy goal, said Councilor Pete Furman. He wants to help the worker who’s been kicked out of his rental because of short-term rentals or that school kid who is sleeping in their car.

Continue Reading Homeless safe parking may go to voters; project put on hold

At Furman’s suggestion, the council also directed staff to provide monthly reports on the participants enrolled in the camping program and amended the proposed zone change to limit it to a roughly two-year period running through June 30, 2026. The parcel will revert to the Cultural Park’s original planned development zoning after that date.

Continue Reading Council votes 6-1 to OK car camp for homeless workers

“I would encourage you to make good progress on benchmarks before the program is approved,” Furman said.

Continue Reading City Council plans homeless camp at Sedona Cultural Park

“I’m really quite concerned about this study … Not only did we have experts in the field come out and do a dust study two days after it rained “…“We also know at this point that [Forest Road] 152 and [Forest Road] 525 were closed for parts of this study,”

Continue Reading Sedona City Council rejects own study on OHVs & health

At the Nov. 29 meeting, Furman again voted against going into executive session to conduct hiring discussions and instead conduct them in public.

“I think the process creation discussions are best done in a public meeting,” Furman said, confirming that his vote was in pursuit of government transparency. “After all, we are setting policy.”

Continue Reading City interviews four candidates for new manager

“I’m supportive of us moving forward and getting the number. I am scared to death of it,” Furman said. He also pointed out that charging for garage parking would be a disincentive for redevelopment of existing paid lots.

Continue Reading Sedona City Council moves forward on Uptown parking garage planning

“It’s not clear to me that now is the right time,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “It’s not our money, it’s other people’s money, and we have a duty, in my opinion, about how we treat that money.”

Continue Reading Sedona City Council decides against ESG investment strategy

We applaud Sedona City Councilman Pete Furman for arguing that the process should be more transparent, not less. The rest of council shouldn’t have anything to hide — unless they do — but without them meeting in public, we’ll never know what they may want to keep secret.

Continue Reading Sedona City Council’s lack of transparency in picking our leaders is distressing

Two items Furman wants the state legislature to look at is regulating the speed of OHVs on dirt roads and the volume of use.

Continue Reading Yavapai County talks OHV use on public lands

“We all want to honor our obligations under the open meeting law,” Furman told the council. “Nothing in the law says that we have to convene behind closed doors, even for authorized topics, unless the law specifies that we must.

Continue Reading Council says ‘no’ to public discussion on new city manager

“I keep trying to look at this data to understand the impact of short-term rentals on our community,” Councilman Pete Furman said, examining a graph showing historical changes in revenues. “Why can’t we get this split up between short-term rentals and hotels?”

Continue Reading Council talks tax trends and STR revenue share

“In a paragraph in the agreement, there’s talk about vehicles monitored by GPS,” Councilman Pete Furman said. “What’s the status of the discussions in the agreement here with our rental companies about whether they are willing to step up and do private enforcement of their private agreements with customers for speed limits?”

Continue Reading Council defers Jablow’s OHV ban pending negotiations

We would like to commend Sedona City Councilman Pete Furman and Councilwoman Kathy Kinsella for getting their ordinance on ordinances passed de facto unanimously at the July 11 meeting and thereby requiring new city laws to be read twice.

Continue Reading Commend Sedona City Council for its ordinance on new ordinances

“I do ponder a question about whether we should pursue an independent analysis of employee satisfaction somehow, if there isn’t something we’re missing,” Furman said.

Continue Reading City council increases proposed budget to $85.6 million

“I’m not comfortable with an 80-20 split,” Furman added, noting that among the service provider contracts the council had awarded earlier at the same meeting, “nobody is even over 60%” for city funding. However, he said he would agree to 80% funding for one year in a spirit of partnership.

Continue Reading City council offers to fund 80% of Visitor Center

“I might remind all of us that the Goldwater Institute and the Arizona state legislature didn’t think short-term rentals would be harmful in any way either,” Furman said.

Continue Reading Sedona considers restricting off-road vehicle access on city streets, highways

“We’re moving way too fast to create a structure that will be very difficult to alter if we decide a different structure is needed,” Furman advised. “We need much more time and thought about the structure, the mission.”

Continue Reading Council votes to form tourism board, emulate Thelma & Louise

“I don’t know why we would think it’s a good idea,” Councilman Pete Furman said, arguing that the application did not meet the city’s Land Development Code requirements because of the absence of a proper traffic analysis.

Continue Reading Arabella Spa to move forward after 4-3 approval

“It got to the point where somebody had to make a bold decision,” said city councilman Peter Furman. “The chamber pulled the trigger first.”

Continue Reading Why Sedona’s Tourism Bureau Fired Its City Over Destination Marketing

“I would rather be on the side of free speech than not,” Furman said.

Continue Reading City Council Debates Freedom of Speech

Sedona Dog Park expansion and water use. Policy making is compromise.

Continue Reading City council members push pet project

Letter to the Editor of the Red Rock News

Continue Reading Letter to Red Rock News Editor: City-Chamber Divorce

The Sedona City Council and Sedona Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Bureau held a joint meeting on Wednesday, Jan. 11, to discuss the future relationship between the city and the chamber. Photo by Daulton Venglar/Larson Newspapers The joint work session between the Sedona City Council and the Sedona Chamber of Commerce & Tourism Bureau on…

Continue Reading City councilors, staff explore splitting Chamber of Commerce from tourism bureau

By Juliana Walter -August 8, 2022 Six candidates vied for the three open spots on the Sedona City Council and by Wednesday morning, the results appear to indicate candidates Pete Furman, Brian Fultz and Melissa Dunn won the seats. The Yavapai County Recorder’s Office estimated at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, Aug. 3, that 17,000 early…

Continue Reading Pete Furman, Brian Fultz, Melissa Dunn elected to Sedona City Council

Published June 23, 2022 in the Sedona Red Rock News I’m Pete Furman, candidate for Sedona City Council. I’m running to improve the quality of life for Sedona residents, help protect our environment and maintain local control. Talking with residents and business owners, I hear fears and concerns about a declining quality of life. People…

Continue Reading Candidate Essay: Pete Furman will use outcome-based measures to gauge progress

As Chuck Reed’s chief of staff, Pete Furman is part of a new wave of powerful outsiders at City Hall

Continue Reading The Man Behind The Mayor